Southwest

Are discount airlines putting our safety at risk? They sometimes resort to extreme measures in order to cut prices, and that could come with repercussions.

The appeal of discount airlines becomes apparent when you consider that the average cost of a domestic flight is $347.33, according to the most recent tally by the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Supposedly, no airline is inherently safer than any other: Any carrier operating in the U.S. has to comply with safety standards upheld by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Despite all of the FAA’s efforts to make airlines comply with these safety standards, there’ve been enough incidents to suggest that discount airlines can be a risky choice.

Death on Southwest Airlines

One of the leading discount airlines regularly makes headlines for safety incidents: Southwest Airlines just had an in-air fatality that effectively put an end to the U.S.’ longest stretch of avoiding such deaths.

On April 17, a Southwest Airlines engine exploded in mid-air, sending shrapnel through a window and killing a passenger as a result, according to Bloomberg News.

Another passenger had been partially sucked out the broken window; everyone on board the plan experienced what The New York Times described as “20 minutes of terror” until the plane made an emergency landing.

Long History of Problems

And that incident is just one of many scary examples involving Southwest Airlines, which has long had a history of “maintenance problems.”

In 2015, the airline grounded one fifth of its planes upon learning of the imminence of FAA safety inspections. The airline had let its own such checks lapse and needed to catch up on them.

The prior year, the FAA had imposed a $12 million civil penalty against the airline for continuing to fly planes that the FAA had said were not airworthy and needed repairs.

Allegiant Airlines Dubbed “Most Dangerous”

An investigation by 60 Minutes led the show to call Allegiant Airlines the “most dangerous” carrier in the world.

Although the Las Vegas-based carrier is incredibly profitable, FAA records and interviews suggest bigger issues loom for the company.

In the summer of 2015, Allegiant had five mid-air breakdowns in a single day. The airline has also had a large number of cabin pressure losses, emergency descents, unscheduled landings and aborted takeoffs.

Older Planes

Many of Allegiant’s planes are older, and many are second-hand aircraft from foreign carriers. While buying used keeps costs low, it could increase the number of malfunctions and mechanical incidents.

Ultimately, Allegiant’s record is highly questionable, particularly since it is a smaller airline.

The carrier only gets around 14 million passengers a year, a far cry from larger airlines like Delta or American Airlines.

Stranded by Sun Country Airlines

In April 2018, hundreds of Sun Country passengers were stranded in Mexico after their flight to Minnesota was canceled.

The original flight was nixed due to a storm along the route. While weather-related delays aren’t uncommon, that wasn’t the core source of the problem.

The carrier had ended its season in Mexico, preventing the stuck passengers from booking another flight with Sun Country.

That canceled flight to Minnesota was the last one of the year, so their customers couldn’t secure another plane.

Little Help for Stranded Passengers

Sun Country refused to send another aircraft to get the passengers, stating the airline would have to cancel other flights to make it happen.

Instead, all of the passengers had to find another way home, paying for costly return tickets with other carriers.

While Sun Country did reimburse the passengers, they had to pay for their return flights up front.

Out of Pocket Expenses

One family spent nearly $2,000 getting a flight back into the country. A travel service even stepped in to help passengers find a way home.

Ultimately, the discount airline abandoned its passengers in a foreign country, offering nothing more than a refund on the return tickets to compensate for the inconvenience.

While this isn’t a situation that is necessarily physically risky, it was a serious financial burden. Plus, it shows just how far a discount airline may be willing to go to keep costs low.

Safer Bets: JetBlue and Frontier

That said, not all discount airlines have had the kinds of problems that Sun Country, Allegiant Air and Southwest have.

JetBlue Airlines ranks as the safest discount airline — and has made at least one top-10 safety ranking across all types of carriers. It has yet to tally even a single serious injury from any accident since forming in 2000.

Similarly, Frontier Airlines has top ratings for safety and hasn’t had a major accident since it opened for business in 1996.

Should You Use Discount Airlines?

As with any airline, it’s wise to do your research: Find out what you are forgoing in exchange for a low price and also look into whether the carrier has a reasonable reputation.

If you discover red flags, like those above, it may be worth spending more money to make sure you’ll get to and from your destination with ease.

What’s your opinion of discount airlines compared to full-service carriers? Tell us about it in the comments section beneath this post.

You may hate them, but airlines love them. There’s now only one US carrier not charging baggage fees. This took place earlier this month when Jet Blue announced it would begin charging baggage fees to consumers using their airline, leaving Southwest as the only airline still letting customers check their bags at no cost.

The reason so many airlines have made the move is simple. It’s a huge cash cow, and brought in nearly $1 billion ($960 million) for 27 airlines charging these fees in the last quarter alone, according to the Department of Transportation. That’s a 9% in baggage fee income from 2013, and earned the airlines some $2.7 billion extra dollars so far in 2014.

While that’s nothing to sneeze at, it still is a far smaller number than ticket costs, which have brought in some $34 billion during the quarter. Still, considering these fees weren’t around 10 years ago, it’s a revenue stream most airlines aren’t going to be willing to abandon even with lower oil prices.

It’s these extra fees like the baggage fee which makes it a lot more difficult for travelers to know exactly how much their flight is going to cost. It wasn’t too long ago all charges were part of the airline ticket you bought, but now they have been broken out into a plethora of different fees. While most people hate paying a fee to check their bag, there are a few who think they are great (beyond the airlines).

Airlines do have massive costs to operate. Airlines spent $11 billion for jet fuel in the last quarter, and another $10 billion for labor fees to keep their planes in the air. While the huge drop in oil costs should help airlines reduce costs in the long run, the savings has yet to show up in ticket prices, even while gas prices for cars has tumbled. Consumers may see ticket prices drop soon if consumers decide that driving is a less expensive alternative to airplane ticket prices.

Charging to check luggage is just one way airlines are nickle and diming air travelers these days. It’s important to know how they do this so you can make choices to avoid these fees and save money when possible, so you don’t spend more for air travel than you need to.

This week ended up being quite simple to save the highest amount left of the 52 week savings challenge sheet. I needed to fly, and I was smart enough to buy my tickets well in advance during the Southwest $59 one-way trip sale. Tickets to this destination usually cost over $100 each way, so scoring the $59 tickets was a great deal. While many times it’s not the best to purchase the cheapest ticket, in this case it was. In fact, out of curiosity, I checked for ticket prices a couple of days before I left to see what the last minute prices were and they were all in the $300 one-way range.

The savings from the ticket alone reaches the highest amount to be crossed off on the sheet ($51), but I was able to get savings in a number of other ways as well. Instead of driving to the airport and leaving the car in long-term parking, or taking a taxi, I arranged to have a friend drop me off and pick me up at the airport. Having taken a taxi before, this saved me about $50 each way. Long term parking for the trip would have been about the same.

One of the things that needs to be taken into account when flying these days is that the price of the ticket isn’t the only cost that can come with flying. Many airlines charge for checking baggage and other extra fees. Fortunately, Southwest is one that doesn’t, plus I packed efficiently so that I could travel with carry-on luggage only.

Another step I took was to bring my own food for waiting at the airport and on the plane. Instead of having to pay for expensive food at the airport, I had plenty with me to keep my hunger cravings satisfied for the trip both there and back. I also took a water bottle which I had to empty going through security, but I was able to fill up again once on the other side so I didn’t have to buy any drinks.

I also made preparations for not needing Internet access. A lot of airports are getting better at offering free Internet access, but there are still ones that don’t. Since I travel a lot and always need Internet access, I have a phone service wifi plan (this also means that I never have to pay for Internet at hotels). I also put together an article plan so that if I don’t have any access (like on the plane), I still can get work done offline.

All these things added together saved me well over $51 during the week. I was gone for the week so I din’t use my car and didn’t have any payments for using it. Since I reached the highest amount on the sheet, I also put all the change I saved back into the jar, and I’ll roll that over to next week.

Zero Effort Money Saving Hacks

If you are looking for an easier way to save money you may want to turn to your daily technology. Digit.co is an app for your smartphone that makes saving pain-free. The app analyzes your savings account balances and then automatically makes small withdrawals that are swept into savings for you. Once you’ve installed and activated your Digit app you can sit back and relax while Digit does the rest. Check it out at digit.co.